Fluid dispensers have heretofore been known. Illustrative examples of fluid dispensers are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,387,359 and 3,273,752. The proposed dispenser in these and other patents have covered a wide range of features attempting to contribute to the more effective distribution of ordinary cleansing fluids such as soap and to the sterile dispensation of cleansing fluids for use in various environments such as hospitals, food processing establishments, and the like where use of sterile fluids is required. In such environments there is often contamination of the hands with infectious materials, and use of a contaminated hand to actuate a dispenser can result in placing such infectious material on the dispenser and even result in the infectious organisms in such materials contaminating the cleansing fluid in the dispenser.
Also, in such environments the flow of air can carry infectious organisms and trap them in nooks and crannies of the dispensers where they can again present contamination problems.
Further, while many soaps and solutions are initially sterile when placed in a dispenser, there are no sure means provided to ensure their sterility during use. Proposals in the noted patents and in other devices to overcome contamination problems have included features such as proximity actuation (i.e., actuation without actually touching a control or actuating member), and efforts to seal the cleaning fluids from the ambient contaminating environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,131 discloses an illustrative example of a dispenser that embodies a number of features which are deemed necessary and/or desirable to ensure continued dispensing of sterile cleaning fluids over an extended period of time.
Use of such dispensers has tended to be concentrated in environments such as hospitals, food processing establishments, and the like. The home, however, is also an environment in which there is often contamination of the hands from infectious materials or where individuals enter with hands already contaminated.
Accordingly, there continues to be a need for further improvement in dispenser apparatuses for use in the home and the like.